On 28 February the US, EU and UK froze most of the Russian central bank’s $630bn foreign currency reserves, responding to the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

In the words of the UK government, the freeze aimed “to prevent the central bank of Russia from deploying its foreign reserves in ways that undermine the impact of sanctions imposed by us and our allies”.

But around 20 percent of the CBR’s reserves—the portion held in gold—could not be touched by sanctions.

That’s because Russia’s gold is held within the country. In theory, it is still free to use its gold as it wishes. Although Russia will struggle to find a counterparty in a Western nation to deal with it, it may find willing buyers elsewhere.

In the latest New Money Review podcast, John Read, chief market strategist at the World Gold Council, talks about gold’s role as the original censorship-resistant form of money, as well as its place in an investment portfolio.

John has over 30 years’ experience in the gold market as a hedge fund manager, a precious metals strategist, an equity analyst and as an employee of a gold mining firm.

He has a degree in mining engineering from the Royal School of Mines, a constituent of Imperial College, London.

Listen to the podcast, “the future of money in 30 minutes”, to hear John comment on the following topics:

• What’s driven the recent gold price rise?
• The role of central banks in the gold market
• Is Russia’s gold subject to sanctions?
• Gold market dislocation—what happened in March 2020?
• The physical delivery of commodities sets the price
• Only 10% of large investors own gold as a strategic allocation
• How gold impacts a portfolio’s risk-adjusted returns
• Will any country ever link its currency’s value to gold again?
• The dollar’s reserve currency status
• Gold as the ultimate store of value
• How to invest in gold
• How to keep track of gold market sentiment and trends